be seen or its light penetrate, and such a state of things exists at this present time in the planet Jupiter. How beautifully does this coincide with the Mosaic account, "The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the earth." The surface of the earth at this time can be well understood by any one who will take the pains to evaporate any saline solution in a capsule till it is about to crystallise, and observe attentively the pellicle of salt as it forms on the surface; first a partial film will show itself in a few places, floating about and joining with others, then when nearly the whole surface is coated, it will break up in some places and sink into the liquid beneath, another pellicle will form and join with the remains of the first, and as this thickens it will push up ridges and inequalities of the surface from openings and fissures in which little jets of steam and fluid will escape; these little ridges are chains of mountains, the little jets of steam those volcanic eruptions which were at that period so frequent; the surface of the capsule is the surface of the earth, and the five minutes which the observer has contemplated it, a million years. The next effect of the cooling of the earth would be the gradual condensation of the vapour of water with which it was surrounded; this falling upon the earth formed seas and oceans, leaving only the higher portions exposed above its level. The clearing-up of the dense dark clouds for the first time let in to the earth's surface the glorious and vivifying rays of the sun, and this great effect possibly accords with the earliest record in the Bible of the acts of creation--"And God said, let there be light, and there was light." [Illustration: FIG. 9--STALAGMITE.] [Illustration: FIG. 10.--TEREBRATULA.]